Listen to the article
Riyadi and La Sagesse clashed on Tuesday night in the first match of the Lebanese Basketball Championship finals at Riyadi’s home court in Manara.
Thanks to a display of strength, Riyadi dominated its opponent, securing a victory in the first match with a score of 104-58. Riyadi’s coach, Ahmad Farran, opted for his classic lineup composed of Elmedin Kikanovic, Hayk Gyokchyan, Karim Zeinoun, Jonathan Simons and Wael Arakji. On the other hand, La Sagesse’s Jad el-Hajj chose Jonathan Gibson, Ahmad Ibrahim, Nick Rakocevic, Omar Jamaleddine and Karim Ezzedinne.
Balanced Start
The beginning of the match showed, as expected, two determined teams looking to take the lead to dictate the tempo. While La Sagesse had a clear game plan to drive to the basket with Ahmad Ibrahim and Nick Rakocevic, Riyadi was not lucky from the three-point line. The home team relied on Gyokchyan’s impact in the first quarter to stay level and take a slight lead (18-15).
One Team on the Court
Throughout the second quarter, Riyadi maintained its lead through efficient offensive performance. Despite La Sagesse’s attempts, the score consistently favored Riyadi (42-32 at halftime).
In the early stages of the third quarter, La Sagesse closed the gap a bit, but Riyadi’s dominance was absolute. By the end of this period, Riyadi’s lead had extended to 21 points (69-48). La Sagesse’s evident loss of concentration continued to hinder them as Riyadi twisted the knife in the fourth quarter. Whenever the green team had possession of the ball, their opponents always found a way to force them into taking a difficult shot and score on the other end, throughout the quarter. This performance led them to an impressive victory, while holding La Sagesse’s Gibson to just 3 points. The match ended with a substantial score of 104-58.
After this impressive performance, while Riyadi fans eagerly await the next match, set to take place in Ghazir on Wednesday, La Sagesse is compelled to react to stay in the finals.
